Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#11

Post by Jd » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 9:15 AM UTC

davidw wrote: post #7

Jd wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been a long standing problem of my own. I think finding a true co-founder if you don't already have someone immediately present in your pool is extraordinarily difficult. The sub-optimal thing is especially difficult if you've already started (I'm 8 months in myself), and then it doesn't make sense to divide equity equally any more either, so you effectively end up with a "first employee" rather than a true…

I have a suspicion that with the rise of YC, at least for a time, there were people searching for a cargo cult co founder. Not someone who meets all the requirements you describe, but a co-founder for the sake of having one because PG said so.

This is a bit true for me. I expended a lot of effort looking for a co-founder, even though it was not obviously true that a co-founder would help me with the particular project I was in. To a certain extent, it was Mark Suster's insistence that a co-founder is not necessary and you can just "go it alone" if you have the cojones/stamina that made me say f' it, I'm just going to do it on my own.

Actually, the breaking point was when the "co-founder" I found told me on the day after I arrived in Berlin to work on the project full time that he wouldn't be able to join in. In this case, he had a totally legit reason (his wife was in the hospital with cancer), but it was probably the case that aligning things as far as a "co-founder" was never necessary from the beginning. Either way, it was a bit catastrophic mentally for me for a couple weeks, toying with merging with a different startup in the same space instead of going full stop ahead on my own. Even now loneliness sometimes takes its toll.

Thankfully, in the end I spent a lot more time on product than worrying about finding a new co-founder, and we have a pretty d* good product now and 30% growth across our KPIs for the last two months. Not really a lot of cash in the bank account, but hell, this is Europe and investors like to sit on their money instead of invest it.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#12

Post by onion2k » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 9:18 AM UTC

tmilard wrote: post #4

It's really odd and kind a funny to me : Investor push toward 1:good product 2:low cost-of-running-company. This I can understand. Over the years the cost of building a start-up has gone very low, wich is a very very good for everyone involved (founders, investors, society at large). In the end, One solo-founder vs two-menbers-founders company egals running-cost of the latter being half priced. To me this is a very v…

You're ignoring the problems - you get half the bandwidth, you get zero bandwidth if anything goes wrong, most of the costs aren't halved - tools, servers, services etc still cost the same. Salaries, travel, and so on are, but those aren't very big costs at the start. Buying in marketing or development or whatever is much more expensive than having a founder doing it because founders are really, really cheap.

My first startup was with a co-founder. My current one is as a single founder. Having someone else onboard is definitely better. If there was someone compentent around who shared my vision for Pitcher.io I'd definitely work with them.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#13

Post by Jd » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 9:18 AM UTC

guynamedloren wrote: post #9

Jd wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been a long standing problem of my own. I think finding a true co-founder if you don't already have someone immediately present in your pool is extraordinarily difficult. The sub-optimal thing is especially difficult if you've already started (I'm 8 months in myself), and then it doesn't make sense to divide equity equally any more either, so you effectively end up with a "first employee" rather than a true…

This is exactly where I'm at right now. Though you're 6 months ahead of me, our experiences sound identical. I'm able to move very quickly and make decisions on the fly (user today after I pushed an update: "Wow, so fast! Do you ever sleep?"), which has been extremely beneficial thus far. > That said, it is considerably easier to get in a funk as a single founder working longer hours than anyone else, constantly push…

Good points. I tend to do a poor job at context switching. Once I get in a coding mood I become extraordinarily anti-social and vice versa. Also, frankly, I'm not that great at sales, at least compared to watching friends of mine who are professionals. But yeah, I'm going to try this anyways.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#14

Post by polymatter » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 9:23 AM UTC

davidw wrote: post #7

Jd wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been a long standing problem of my own. I think finding a true co-founder if you don't already have someone immediately present in your pool is extraordinarily difficult. The sub-optimal thing is especially difficult if you've already started (I'm 8 months in myself), and then it doesn't make sense to divide equity equally any more either, so you effectively end up with a "first employee" rather than a true…

I have a suspicion that with the rise of YC, at least for a time, there were people searching for a cargo cult co founder. Not someone who meets all the requirements you describe, but a co-founder for the sake of having one because PG said so.

I think that sort of personality type wouldn't do well in YC selection process anyway. They are unlikely to have many interesting hack stories if they are the sort of person trying to conform. I would guess that such fake co-founders would be spotted and questioned pretty quickly and that this would be a mark against acceptance.

But its still a good idea to encourage founders to have a co-founder. They may not listen, but it might be the extra nudge they need.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#15

Post by Jd » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 9:33 AM UTC

hugofirth wrote: post #10

In my, limited, experience having a cofounder is great for checks and balances. Sometimes you really need someone you trust to tell you you're being an idiot.

I think you can often simulate this by having a good advisor or two. Make decisions frequently and rapidly, but leave a door open for critique. Presumably you need to document your decisions for this to be optimally effective.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#16

Post by X4 » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:00 AM UTC

r0h1n wrote: post #5

Let's say you don't have an ideal co-founder - one who complements your skills and whom you trust implicitly and deeply (like how it's described in this nice Venturehacks piece - http://venturehacks.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/... ). Does it then make sense to bring on board a sub-optimal co-founder, one whose skill sets may be similar to yours, and who may not share that close a friendship or history wit…

I agree, I'm a very compatible person, but there is nobody I know that is similarly skilled and interested in starting up an idea. I have a lot of long-time business contacts (from freelancing) who sometimes have very great ideas and even data to back-up the potential success of it, when they know a competitor for example. They want me to do it all the software-architecture, coding and sometimes even the design, but cannot invest themselves into it, except for connecting us to the potential customers they know. I once had a co-founder who at least did the business part of thing (man he was really good at it), but he stopped when it started to become fruitful, due to severe illness of his mother. Well and we never made things on paper, which concerned me, but not him.

I've one friend who I could do co-found with, but he wants to move to another country and work for an infosec company and won't have any spare time then, nor has the risk-taking ability that's required. Well, because otherwise he'd stay from start to finish of the product and not hunt down his the career-path as fast as possible.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#17

Post by akbar501 » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:44 AM UTC

I'll answer this based on my experiences:

0. Having a team where everyone is committed is ideal. It's very difficult to run a company by yourself (beyond a very small operation). Finding a co-founder should not be driven by YC, VCs, etc. A co-founder is about the success of your company. Is it absolutely necessary, no. Does having a good partner greatly increase your chances of success, yes.

1. Should you settle for a sub-optimal co-founder? No. Starting a company with someone is a long-term commitment. It's like marriage in so many ways, so you should take your time and find the right match to grow your business. On the other hand, don't set your standards so high that you're stuck doing everything on your own forever. Basically, know what characteristics you need in your co-founder so that the company's success is maximized.

Also, put in effort to find the right co-founder. Get out there, talk to people, let people know you're in the market. And don't be afraid to date before marriage. There are many ways to start working together. You can start with a consulting arrangement, then grow to co-founder after verifying that everyone can really work well together.

2. Should you share equity with someone who joins late? The work you put in before finding a co-founder or getting an investment is not highly relevant. First, think of this as if you're the 2nd co-founder. Would you be ok taking a smaller stake for the next 2, 4, 10 years just because the other person did a few months work before you joined?

Building a company is about the future. That's what everyone is rewarded for. If a late joining co-founder helps grow the startup from a pre-revenue company into a company with millions in monthly revenue then they do deserve to be richly rewarded for their contribution.

3. Think past YC, past funding. Make decisions that will optimize the value and growth of your company. YC is a 3 month program. You'll be done with it before you know it. Funding is an event. When it's done it's done. Imagine you're now done with YC and you've been funded. What type of co-founder do you need to grow your idea into a large company?

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#18

Post by domid » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 10:50 AM UTC

I think a large part of identifying a successful leader in a company is to see if he/she has the potential to lead. A leader should be able to excite others around an idea and convince them to follow and devote their time and energy. This is difficult to do early on, specifically if there is no money involved. In not being able to find a co-founder you are basically saying, you can't or you don't want one/need one. If you can't, that might be identified as a negative trait. If you don't want one or feel you don't need one, I would encourage you to reconsider. There is nothing like having someone beside you, you can fully trust, and talk openly with about your problems and frustrations.

Working on a startup is something like swimming in an ocean with a one mattress that's loosing air. You need to swim to an island which is far far away, and although the mattress might have enough air to help you rest from time to time, there is a big chance everything might go wrong. Sure you can do it alone if you try hard enough, but there is a bigger risk of you getting there to late or not getting there at all. With 2 or more co-founders, you have someone beside you can trust, and that might allow you to rest, or plan out a strategy so you all get to you destination sooner than anyone else. Trust me when I tell you, you aren't the only one swimming in the same direction.

I'm sure you can find a handful of companies that had one founder and succeeded, but the odds of them succeeding are just much much smaller and it is a bigger risk most investors want to avoid.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#19

Post by crucialfelix » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 11:41 AM UTC

Jd wrote: post #6

r0h1n wrote: post #5

Let's say you don't have an ideal co-founder - one who complements your skills and whom you trust implicitly and deeply (like how it's described in this nice Venturehacks piece - http://venturehacks.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/... ). Does it then make sense to bring on board a sub-optimal co-founder, one whose skill sets may be similar to yours, and who may not share that close a friendship or history wit…

This has been a long standing problem of my own. I think finding a true co-founder if you don't already have someone immediately present in your pool is extraordinarily difficult. The sub-optimal thing is especially difficult if you've already started (I'm 8 months in myself), and then it doesn't make sense to divide equity equally any more either, so you effectively end up with a "first employee" rather than a true…

If you do invite somebody to join then vest the shares to them over 4 years. This minimizes issues of trust or things not working out.

Re: Ask PG: Any new thoughts on single founders + YC?

#20

Post by solve » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 12:00 PM UTC

Is the 20% failure that rate that YC attributes directly to fights between cofounders actually much higher than it should be? Is this simply because YC is forcing people to match up to cross the eligibility threshold?

I'm not sure they even have the information needed to determine this, given the massive incentive they've given people to misrepresent the closeness among their team members.